Raising the Grand Duke of the North as a Farmer Behind Dad’s Back - Chapter 59

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 59
“Ah… those fish.”
“Yes!”
I bobbed my head earnestly.
“I heard that spined trout and silver salmon have a Homing Instinct.”
“…….”
“Now that the ice on the Veil River has melted and the water quality has improved, they’ll definitely swim back upstream to spawn! Within days!”
“Aha!”
Aisha nodded vigorously at my explanation.
But Felix’s expression was noticeably less bright.
“Hmm…….”
The villagers nearby, repairing the bridge and listening to our conversation, wore the same skeptical look.
“Goodness… I kept wondering why the child kept going on about fish, fish.”
“So that’s what this was about.”
There was something in their faces—a patient expression, as if to say, ‘The child doesn’t understand.’
“Haniel. Well, you see…….”
Felix met my eyes.
“That’s probably going to be difficult.”
“Yes? Why? Do you think it’ll be hard for the fish to swim upstream through the Great Canyon?”
“No, well… spined trout and silver salmon have incredible jumping power, so they should be able to overcome the waterfall in the Great Canyon just fine. That’s not really the issue, though…….”
He explained patiently.
“Haniel, small Radiant Dragons used to live around this Veil River. You know that, right?”
“Yes! It was Monster territory!”
“Fish with Homing Instinct don’t swim back up just any clean water. They return to the river they recognize as their ‘home.'”
“…….”
“Of course, long ago, trout and salmon did live here too, or so they say…….”
“…….”
“But since this region has been Monster territory all along, for the past five hundred years those fish would have found it hard to survive in this Northern Region. So, in other words…….”
“This is no longer their home.”
A grave voice came from behind.
It was Basil.
He placed a hand on my head and raised an eyebrow.
“Did you eat your morning bread?”
“Yes! Two of them!”
“Twice as admirable, then.”
He examined me closely, then gestured toward the river.
“As Felix says, your fish trap filling will have to wait.”
“Hmm…….”
“The fish will probably need more time to recognize this place as home. So……”
“Excuse me.”
I raised my hand sharply. The Duke’s mouth snapped shut.
“It seems like you’ve all been overthinking this…….”
“……?”
“Why not just make them recognize it as home right away?”
Silence fell.
I blinked and spoke calmly.
“If those fish lived here a very long time ago, then they’ve just forgotten the way home. So we just need to show them ‘home is here!’ by letting them know!”
“But that’s just…….”
“Smell!”
My voice rang out loudly.
“Fish follow their sense of smell to return…….”
“……!”
“If we spread the scent of the moss from home they love, that’s all we need!”
* * *
<The Nature of Silver Salmon>
Silver salmon grow to maturity in large lakes, then
follow the scent of moss from home, swimming hundreds of kilometers back upstream.
They have the characteristic of digging basins in clear gravel upstream and spawning there to breed.
That’s what the book in the library clearly stated.
Fish with Homing Instinct find their home by responding to ‘scent.’
‘Of course!’
The village elders, experienced as they were, couldn’t have been ignorant of something so basic.
They simply assumed the fish wouldn’t return because that ‘moss’ was no longer present in the Veil River.
But……
‘I saw it with my own eyes!’
During my expedition of the Veil River.
That outer expedition, the very one where I lost consciousness and collapsed.
‘I’d traveled upstream along the Veil River, didn’t I?’
I’d found it there, in those forbidding mountains.
Wedged between large and small boulders……
‘Yes! It was there!’
A fluffy, rounded blue moss.
While fish migration is triggered by multiple environmental factors—water temperature, acidity, microbial conditions, and more—Water Drop Moss is regarded as the single most powerful trigger for their return……(cont.)
That was definitely the Water Drop Moss I’d read about in the books!
‘It was buried in the snow, so the scent hadn’t spread, and the quantity was quite small.’
But moss had extraordinary survival capacity.
I suspected it had entered some kind of dormant state and weathered the harsh cold that way.
‘Anyway, if I collect it properly and scatter it around the Veil River, that should do it!’
With such strong reproductive ability, the moss would spread quickly and draw the fish back!
Within a week, at most!
“So I’ll need to go scrape it up.”
My eyes gleamed.
I was already moving forward, scraper and bucket in hand——!
“‘Need to go,’ my foot.”
Whoops—I failed.
My collar was seized from behind.
“Ah…… it’s so absurd I almost laughed out loud.”
Basil, cradling me in his embrace, spoke in a tone devoid of amusement.
“Surely you weren’t just planning to climb upriver by yourself? Answer me, little one.”
I struggled and squirmed my way free from his grasp.
“But what else can we do! We need to transplant the moss right away!”
“I told you to wait—we’re still surveying the mountain for safety.”
Oh.
Right……
There was the river gorge, and the ground around it was unstable, creating avalanche risk.
“But…… how will we know if it’s safe?”
“I’ll find the most stable route possible.”
Basil, who had been murmuring, cracked his neck.
“Of course, it would be helpful to have a guide familiar with these mountains.”
He stated it flatly.
“In any case, I’ll go gather the moss with the villagers—you just stay here and play with the pig. Understood?”
“Hmph, I’m worried though.”
Tch.
Those fierce eyes glared down at me.
I had no choice but to hand the scraper and bucket over to Basil.
“Yes……”
Since I’d fallen ill, Basil had become nearly obsessive about my safety and health.
It was almost like having my father from my past life back.
Yet something felt strange.
‘In my past life, it was always so suffocating…… but now not a bit of it is.’
Why was that?
“By the way, little brat, my horse has been waiting for you to brush her right rump. When are you going to the stable?”
“Eek, now! Right now—!”
“Come along then.”
“Yes!”
I trotted after Basil, carrying a small child’s bucket and a tiny brush.
‘Ah.’
I see.
Here in the Northern Region…… perhaps having so much to do is keeping the restlessness at bay.
“Oh, by the way, Basil! Um, when will the rest of the Rye Seeds arrive?”
“According to the letter from Duke Loweun, it should arrive soon enough.”
Basil gazed into empty air and clicked his tongue sharply.
“Still later than expected, though.”
Word had it that the Eastern Region was also running short on reserves and had arranged for additional support.
‘I hope nothing’s gone wrong.’
I looked up at the blue sky stretching overhead.
If the sowing season slipped away, things would become difficult, and anxiety gnawed at me.
“Your Highness, there you are.”
At that moment, Camilla the stewardess approached.
“What is it?”
“New residents have arrived—the eleven you wrote to about before. They’re in the village at the moment. Would you like to meet them? They’re still unpacking their belongings.”
“Very well. I’ll stop by the stables first. Anything unusual?”
“Well…… actually.”
Camilla hesitated slightly before speaking.
“What is it?”
“The residents numbered thirteen, not eleven.”
Basil clicked his tongue with a soft tsk.
“Looks like a couple joined along the way.”
“Yes. I’ve verified their credentials, and…… there’s nothing particularly suspicious about them.”
“Where are they from?”
“One is from the Eastern Region, and the other is from a mountain village in the Tilot Mountain Range. Lost everything in a monster attack last year, from what I gathered.”
A mountain village native?
“It would be fortunate if we had a guide who knew the mountains well.”
Basil’s eyes and mine met instantly.
We’d found one. A guide!
* * *
Imperial Capital, Imperial Palace.
The chamber was thick with pale, billowing smoke.
A lofty jade throne.
The man seated in that august place lifted his head.
The thick smoke obscured his face, but the oppressive weight emanating from his massive frame was overwhelming.
“You speak of crops from the Northern Region now?”
“Yes, yes, Your Majesty…….”
The empire’s sovereign tilted his chin downward.
“Fascinating. So the rumors were true.”
“…….”
“Count Redermic.”
At the sound of his name, the hunched man’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“That was the most interesting tale you’ve brought before me yet.”
“…….”
Count Redermic’s eyes darted nervously.
He was currently under a confinement order from Duke Loweun, but he could not restrain himself any longer.
The resentment boiling within him was unbearable.
‘Because of that Basil—what is this? What humiliation is this because of that arrogant mercenary?!’
He had merely gone to collect his rightful compensation.
But because that wretch harbored ill will and exposed his corruption to Duke Loweun, he had been left with nothing!
The injustice burned in him.
To be betrayed by someone not even of true nobility galled him so deeply that sleep eluded him.
So he had covertly gathered intelligence and made his way to the Imperial Palace.
And he sought out the one person most likely to find his information fascinating.
There was a glimmer of hope as well.
‘If His Majesty favors me, perhaps I can restore my house to glory.’
One way or another, he could not bear to watch the North continue its triumphant ascent.
“And…… there is one more thing I must tell you.”
“What is it? Speak.”
Sure enough, the Emperor tilted his chin gently in acknowledgment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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